Late nights
by TurtleFriedRice
Summary: Sometimes even a Marimo can sacrifice a little sleep. Zosan one-shot.


Sanji yawned, aiming his key to the lock. He was lucky tonight, he wasn't as tired as usual and it only took a few attempts to get it in the hole. He unlocked it slowly, turning the knob silently and opening the door to his apartment. It was dark inside, like he expected to be and prompted himself to remain quiet in his actions.

First he peeled off his jacket. He loved his job and he loved cooking, but he had to rid himself of the smell. When it was this late it was overwhelming regardless. He yawned again, leaning down and slipping off his shoes. It had been another long shift and there was nothing Sanji liked more than to get these things off, whether he rocked them or not.

It wasn't until he had begun walking silently, his toes curling in the carpet while he undid his shirt's sleeve cuffs, that he felt the presence of dark eyes on him as soon as he made it around the corner. He stopped a moment before slowly turning his chin and glancing at his stalker. Sitting sluggishly in the loveseat, dressed only in his plaid boxers, was his lover Zoro.

They stared into each others eyes a long moment, only the light from a barely audible tv lighting the living room. A grin, though, found its way to the cook's face, curling his lips. He stopped what he was doing and approached his ghost of a lover.

It was an unusual sight to say the least, as the night wasn't young anymore and it was reaching the AM. Zoro was an early riser for his work, clashing with Sanji's late schedule, so the blond would have pictured him tucked in his usual blanket coma, sprawled stark nude across the mattress like always, but not tonight.

"What the hell are you doing up, Marimo?" Sanji asked, his voice still soft and low. They had neighbors after all.

He had paused right in front of Zoro, who even though he looked like shit from his battle of fighting off the Z's, looked pretty satisfied. Not that he would let Sanji know he was happy to see him, though. He lazily rolled his eyes and gave a slight shrug, moving his hand out slowly for the remote.

"Dunno." He lied through his teeth. "Couldn't sleep."

Sanji raised a suspicious curly brow. Zoro, the laziest man on earth and a total neanderthal, couldn't sleep? Now that was something the blond truly wished he could see. However, he'd never seen it because it simply wasn't possible. Zoro slept, always, so that wasn't the case here. He would be sure to tell him that too, cutting the swordsman's hand off before he could grab the device and redirect his calloused hand to his lips for a quick peck, annoying the Marimo with his intimacy as always.

"Bull shit. Don't lie to me. You could sleep anywhere. What's the real reason?"

Sanji leaned in, climbing onto the chair, his knees settling on the sides of Zoro's legs. He placed his arms on either side of the Marimo's shoulders. He slightly gasped, still smugly smiling as he acted like a sudden realization had come to him.

"Were you waiting up for me?" He kissed at Zoro's neck before resting his chin on his shoulder and clasping his arms around his neck tighter. Fuck romance, he was to tired, but he could still rest against his Marimo.

Zoro scowled at that, glaring over at the blond's head. Like hell he'd wait up for Sanji or something. Just like the reason the cook had a hard time believing he couldn't sleep, he could sleep whenever he wanted to! Just at this particular moment, in the same time frame that his boyfriend might be arriving home from a job that Zoro knew the schedule from, the Marimo decided to be awake. Totally despite his failing ability to keep his eyes open.

Still, he huffed through his nose at the comment, weakly pulling Sanji off from directly on him and guided him so that he was on his lap, curled up to his chest.

"You wish, you shit cook." Was his only reply to the cook's insinuation.

Sanji closed his eyes for a moment, rejoicing silently for being close to the Marimo. During the week their schedules were so busy, they only had the weekends then the few hours between jobs and sleep to be together. It wouldn't always be like this, as they were both aspiring higher in their careers, but even the blonde could admit to waiting impatiently for the weekends.

"You're gonna look like shit tomorrow now, you know that right, you moron?" Sanji whispered, opening his eyes slowly and peering up at Zoro's tv illuminated face.

Zoro had closed his eyes, or so he commonly referred to it 'resting his eyes', also known as the very last moment before he completely indulged his exhaustion. Like his head weighed more than it should, it slid to the side, resting against Sanji's.

"No more than usual, yeah?" He dared to joke.

Sanji couldn't help but to chuckle lightly. It had become a habit of his to point out the ugly mug, the forever grumpy scowling face, his swordsman always wore that the cook admired more than he should.

Another few moments of silence passed and Zoro finally grabbed the remote, turning off the tv. The room was dark and silent again, except for their combined breathing. Then he yawned, ruining the mood and rediscovering his grasp on the cook, his leg and around his back.

"Can we go to bed now?" Was his only answer, with a hint of pout.

Sanji was still smiling, though it wasn't seen. He also nodded but that didn't get picked up either. Instead he just agreed, hesitantly allowing Zoro to scoop him up off the loveseat as he got up. He kept his eyes closed, or at least he assumed they were closed as Zoro carried him through the doorway to their bed room, dropping him heavily onto the sheets.

Sanji cursed, hating how the Marimo could go from gentle to dropping him like he was nothing in a moment. Guess it showed just how much he valued his sleep. Still, as the Marimo was climbing into bed by his side, Sanji unbuttoned his top and slid off his pants before allowing himself to melt into the covers.

Before he could even get to comfortable though, his unspoken favorite part came. Zoro, who was so impatient when there was something he wanted like sleep, wrapped his arms around the cook's frame again, embracing him close and breathing in his scent.

Sanji let his arm rest over Zoro's, relaxing his face into his pillow, his eyes closing again. Usually, by this time he would have been showering, but this time it could wait. He was perfectly content at this point.

"Zoro." He began to whisper again, earning him a nice snarl from the sleep deprived brute. "Thanks."

Zoro's annoyed face softened and he nuzzled against his cook, humming slightly. He didn't mind gratitude one bit. Sanji, though, really appreciated it. Even through unspoken words, over time the sleep diva had realized something about the blonde as his schedule had changed to the night shift. Embarrassingly, he just didn't seem to get a good rest unless he spoke to Zoro before falling asleep.

Don't get him wrong, he loved cuddling with the Marimo and seeing him when they weren't working, but the sleep quality just wasn't the same without even the slightest goodnight from him. Was it selfish? Probably. But Sanji would be damned if he was going to pass up a chance to be spoiled, even if he hadn't directly asked the Marimo to do it.

"Love you."

"You too cook... you...too."

* * *

**Thank you MyLadyDay for beta-ing!**


End file.
